The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is Alabama's largest employer, with more than 18,000 faculty and staff at the university and in the health system, and is responsible for 52,900 full-time equivalent jobs within the university and the community. Eight in every 100 jobs in the Birmingham area, and 2.8 jobs in every 100 jobs in Alabama, are related to UAB. UAB's overall economic impact in the Birmingham metro area exceeds $3 billion annually. Consistent with ARRA goals, this application will create four jobs and put $160,000 into the economy through equipment purchases. The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is the hub for cancer research activities at UAB and requests funding from the NCI through this mechanism to facilitate recruitment of two early stage investigators as part of the Center's membership. In particular we are targeting the areas of drug development/pharmacology and virology/immunology to build on strengths within the Center's research programs. They will have access to a rich research environment in terms of both infrastructure and collaborative intellectual capital. In addition, they will be supported by mentoring and guidance from leaders in their respective fields that are on the UAB campus. Both faculty recruits have commitments extending two years past the time frame of this application representing the UAB Cancer Center's commitment to their success as well as the commitment of the sponsoring departments, Pharmacology &Toxicology and Microbiology. Two strong candidates, one for each position, have been identified through ongoing recruitment efforts at the UAB Cancer Center and they are described in the application. Public Health Relevance: Our application is in direct response to the objectives outlined in RFA-OD-09-005. Funding of this application will create two new faculty and two new staff jobs. In addition it will provide significant funding for the purchase of research equipment. Together the creation of jobs and the infusion of money into the economy will meet the objectives of the ARRA.